Roanoke College Advising as Intellectual Inquiry

1. Dr. Julie Tetley, Chief, Academic Advising and FYE The United States Air Force Academy julie.tetley@usafa.edu Roanoke CollegeAdvising as Intellectual Inquiry

2. My Background and Perspectives

3. What does an excellent teacher do? • Engage student actively in the learning process • Facilitate learning—act as c0-learners • Teach students how to evaluate information • Provide regular feedback, reinforcement, and encouragement • Provide problem-solving tasks to students • Knowledgeable and caring • Demonstrate passion and interest

4. Advising as Teaching and Learning “An excellent advisor does the same for the student’s entire curriculum that the excellent teacher does for one course.” Marc Lowenstein, 2005

5. Reconsidering the way we think about Academic Advising • Prescriptive Advising • Advising as bookkeeping • Student is passive recipient of knowledge • Unidirectional Flow of information • Advisor tells the student actions to undertake • Checklists, rules, requirements • Instruction paradigm—teacher focused

6. Reconsidering the way we think about Academic Advising • Developmental Advising • Holistic model • Focused on personal growth and development • Counseling model “To say that students’ personal development is the essential core of teaching is to ignore teachers’ primary academic goals and responsibilities” (Lowenstein, 2005)

7. Reconsidering the way we think about Academic Advising • Learning-centered Advising • Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Outcomes for Advising • Academically focused • Mission-centered, student-centered • Students as active learners, Advisors as facilitator “The core purpose of advising is to enhance learning, a more academically oriented goal than the broader personal growth advocated by the developmental model” (Lowenstein, 2005)

8. Academic Advising as Learning • Curriculum: What should students learn through advising? • Mission and Principles • Pedagogy: How might the learning take place? Using this paradigm, advising is centered on institutional mission/core valuesand on student learning.

9. Roanoke College Mission and Principles: The Advising Curriculum Mission • Roanoke College develops students as whole persons and prepares them for responsible lives of learning, service, and leadership by promoting their intellectual, ethical, spiritual and personal growth. Principles • At Roanoke College a liberal arts education prepares students for lives of freedom with purpose. The college aims to produce resourceful, informed, and responsible citizens prepared for productive careers and for leadership in community, with an understanding of community appropriate to American diversity and to the increasingly global experience of the 21st century.

10. Small Group Discussion Outcomes for Advising • What attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and skills do you want students to have as a result of the advising experience?

11. Students will: • craft a coherent educational plan based on assessment of abilities, aspirations, interests, and values • use complex information from various sources to set goals, reach decisions, and achieve those goals • assume responsibility for meeting academic program requirements • articulate the meaning of higher education and the intent of the institution’s curriculum • cultivate the intellectual habits that lead to a lifetime of learning • behave as citizens who engage in the wider world around them

12. First-generation College Student Dilemma • Did this advisor approach advising from a teaching and learning perspective? If so, in what ways? • How was Lisa’s advisor able help her to get to a place in which she is able to advocate for her passions and interests in future conversations with her parents? • What curricular and co-curricular opportunities exist here at Roanoke that might allow Lisa to explore her interests and engage more in the community? • What sorts of referrals or supports would be helpful for Lisa?

13. Advising using the Learning Paradigm • Require students to actively participate in the advising process • Ask students to seek out answers • Provide opportunities for students to enhance their skills of reflection, self-assessment, goal-setting, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills • Ask students to reflect on their experiences—respond in writing

14. Advising First-Year Students Your first advising meeting with new students • What were your favorite courses and strengths in high school? • What are your greatest concerns about coming to college? • Why did you choose to attend Roanoke? • How do you think is Roanoke different than a large, state university? • Do you have any ideas about possible fields of interest (majors) or career goals?

15. Mid-Semester First-year • In general, in what ways is Roanoke meeting or not meeting your expectations? • What experiences at Roanoke have been most rewarding? • What experiences have been most challenging? • What have you found to be the most stimulating academic or intellectual experiences so far? Explain why. • In what way(s) are you addressing Roanoke’s mission and core values? Why is the core curriculum important?

16. Advising Sophomores • At the beginning of the year, what did you expect that your sophomore year would be like? In what ways have your expectations been met or not? • Talk about your level of confidence in your choice of an academic major. Describe the process that you have gone through to make this decision. Who have you asked for advice or guidance? • Tell me about one of your best academic or co-curricular experiences you’ve had so far in college. Have you encountered any negatives experiences, challenges, or stressful situations? If so, could you describe those for me? • What kind of support systems do you have and how have those played a role in your college experience thus far?

17. Scenarios Break-out Session • Discuss 2 scenarios in groups of about 5 • Apply the principles of the Advising as Learning Paradigm Scenarios: • Scenario 1: Brian, Underperforming Student-Athlete • Scenario 2: Mary Beth, Pressure to Declare a Major • Scenario 3: Rose, Shattered Dreams • Scenario 4: Brooke, Personal Issues • Scenario 5: David, Not Reaching his Potential

18. Break-out Locations

19. Constructing Learning Partnerships in Academic Advising • Keep Questioning Paramount—asking probing and open-ended questions • Use your resources and act as a referral agent • Slow Down—remember process rather than just product • Do what is comfortable for you as an advisor/teacher, know your boundaries • Turn more responsibility to the student—Balance Challenge with Support • Do whatever you can to encourage students to reflect on their experiences

20. High Impact Practices (HIP) Advising done well is a high impact practice Connecting students to High Impact Practices through advising Undergraduate research Service-learning Experiential learning Internships Diversity/Global Learning • High Impact Practices are defined by: • Student-faculty contact • Active learning • Prompt feedback • Time on task • High expectations • Respect for diverse learning styles • Cooperation among students

21. HIP Break-out Session • How do you work with advisees to encourage and plan for experiential learning? What techniques are successful? How do your strategies differ based on the student? (e.g. the highly engaged honors student versus the student that just wants to “get through” their courses; 1st year students versus juniors and seniors) • What are your frustrations/concerns about advising students about experiential learning opportunities? Pitfalls and obstacles you have encountered? • What supports/information would be helpful for advisors in the area of experiential education?

22. The Realities • Time constraints • Consider group advising when appropriate • Use upperclass students in the process • Can we really do more? • Require more from students • Use technology to your benefit: DataTel degree audits, online major declaration • Use referrals—don’t try to do it all • Begin to discuss advising within the category of teaching when creating promotion packets

23. Feedback • What resonated most with you today? • One take-away

24. “Call me TrimTab!” • Buckminster Fuller said: You should never try to change the course of a great ship by applying force to the bow. You shouldn’t even try it by applying force to the rudder. Rather you should apply force to the trim-tab. The shift to the Learning Paradigm is the trim-tab of the great ship of advising (Adapted from Barr and Tagg, 1995)

25. Dr. Julie Tetley The United States Air Force Academy julie.tetley@usafa.edu 719-333-8973 Thank You and Good Luck as you begin the new academic year!